Quality of Hawaii’s Avocados
Moving towards import replacement
Marisa Wall
USDA, ARS, PBARC
Ted Radovich, Marc Meisner, Glen Fukumoto – UH-CTAHR
Ken Love – HTFG
Francis Zee – USDA, ARS, PBARC
• Avocados are nutrient-dense fruits: high in unsaturated
fats, fiber, niacin, folate, lutein, potassium, iron, vitamins
B6, C, E, K.
• Hawaii avocado cultivars are considered by many as
gourmet fruit because of their nutty flavor and creamy
texture.
A survey and taste test by Hawaii chefs identified five
avocado cultivars with potential gourmet quality.
Sharwil
Kahaluu
Malama
Linda
Local Hass
Avocado imports into Hawaii are increasing.
• Local avocados contribute
~30% of total demand.
• Supply of imported
avocados into Hawaii has
tripled.
• Imported avocados cost 34 times more than local
avocados.
Goals:
Determine quality standards for Hawaii’s avocados.
Replace imported avocados with Hawaii-grown fruit.
• Determine quality using objective analyses.
• Develop database of objective quality criteria that
correlates with sensory quality and market appeal.
• Use quality criteria to evaluate and identify avocado
germplasm with market potential.
Avocado Oil Content
• HDOA specifies minimum 12% oil content for "Hawaii
Fancy" and "Hawaii No. l" grades.
• Avocado cultivars vary widely: 10% to >30% oil.
• Avocados harvested at 12% oil could be immature, with a
watery taste and rubbery texture.
• Higher oil content generally correlated with higher edible
quality.
• Measuring oil content requires laboratory analysis.
Avocado Dry Matter Content
• Predominant maturity index for avocado harvesting.
• Highly correlated to oil content.
• Cultivar-specific: CA – Hass (20.8%), MX – Hass
(21.5%), CA- Fuerte (19%), NZ – (24%)
Percent dry matter is highly correlated to oil content.
35
r2 = 0.93 ***
Mean dry matter = 34.2%
% Oil content
Mean oil content = 22.3%
30
y = -6.18 + 0.83x
25
20
15
10
20
25
30
35
% Dry matter
Sharwil
40
45
50
Avocado fruit weight, dry matter, and oil content - 2010
Cultivar
N
Av. Fruit Wt (g)
% Dry matter
% Oil Content
Sharwil
36
350.84 d
42.48 a
27.92 a
Kahaluu
18
681.46 a
39.22 b
22.09 bc
Shattauer
19
423.57 c
39.15 b
23.75 b
MNL
18
348.97 d
38.22 b
23.97 b
Hass - local
30
206.25 f
38.18 b
21.55 cd
Hass - import
46
219.53 f
34.38 c
21.03 cd
Green Gold
19
291.06 f
31.57 d
19.80 d
Penata
17
539.32 b
28.84 e
16.80 e
Malama
26
507.34 b
28.16 e
13.55 f
Kahaluu
MNL
Malama
ab
a
b
Taste
9.0
8.5
8.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
c
Sharwil
Schatt
Texture
Appearance
Sensory analysis: Hawaii’s avocados and imported Hass fruit - 2010
9.0
8.5
8.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
9.0
8.5
8.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
a
ab
bc
c
Sharwil
GrnGld Hass-Impt
a
b
b
Sharwil
Schatt
b
GrnGld Hass-Impt
Schatt
GrnGld Hass-Impt
Sensory descriptors for avocado cultivars
Cultivar
Green
Watery
Bland
Nutty
Creamy
Sharwil
20%
3%
23%
66%
77%
Shattauer
8%
0%
23%
69%
77%
Green Gold
45%
20%
25%
50%
60%
Hass- import
59%
52%
26%
48%
67%
Hass
Sharwil
Shattauer
Avocado tasting by 35 culinary professionals - 2010
Cultivar
Texture rating
% Dry matter
% Oil Content
Sharwil
9.02 a
35.40 a
25.42 a
Green Gold
8.64 ab
36.53 a
27.07 a
Serpa
7.09 cd
35.76 a
23.01 b
Hass-local
8.34 ab
32.33 bc
22.43 b
Linda
6.19 d
27.01 d
18.83 c
Nishikawa
7.65 cd
29.59 cd
18.65 c
Egami
6.29 d
27.70 d
18.36 c
Ohata
4.44 e
23.55 e
13.97 d
------
21.76 e
12.49 d
Hass- import
Conclusions
• Opportunity exists to replace imported avocados
with locally grown fruit.
• Consistent supply of high quality avocados is key to
capturing market and consumer acceptance.
• Sharwil, Kahaluu, Shattauer, MNL, GreenGold
cultivars had better quality than imported Hass fruit.
• Analysis will be expanded to more cultivars and
greater fruit numbers in 2011.
• SEND FRUIT – GRADE A ONLY!!
Mahalo
Sandra Silva
Suzy Sanxter
Andrea Lysy
Kate Nishijima
Julia Scholder
Jenni Ueno
Ted Radovich
Ken Love
Marc Meisner
Glenn Fukumoto
Francis Zee
Hawaii’s Tropical Fruit Growers!